Forgive and Forget
by karayuquex
Summary: CCSHP. After years of waiting, Syaoran returned to Japan only to tell Sakura that he got engaged. The old cheerful carefree Sakura was thus lost... At that very moment, Eriol arrived at her house to tell her that she got accepted in Hogwarts. EDIT
1. Escaping Do Not Result in Happiness

_**September 19 2004 EDIT: Ehehehe, so it seemed like more than two months had past right? Hontou ni gomenasai! Then, please refer to my bio for more info to why I had not update for what seemed like eternity! And anyway, I had edited the chapter slightly, at least, the grammar mistakes are 95 percent gone! That's an improvement. I had cleared up some of the confusion that had confused me too, so this chap should be 99 percent error-free! So, until we meet again, Ja!**_

_Disclaimers: I do not own Card Captor Sakura and Harry Potter, it belongs to CLAMP and J.K. Rowling respectively. . . so don't ever sue me for it!!!_

**_May 29 2004_ Author's Note: **Haiz. . . in the end, I still can't resist the urge of venturing into the CCS/HP plot. . . enjoy, and now. . . I accept flames for anything except my GRAMMER!!! Yea, my grammar still sucks. . . so, enjoy! The pairings shall reveal at the end of the chapter. . . and then, don't treat it like it's with the HP books storyline. . . it's completely different from the storyline J.K. Rowling had in her book.

_Fact Sheet: There will be the Triwizard Tournament, Cedric Diggory don't appear at all in this story, Cho Chang might had somehow of a big appearance, and then, followed by of course the Yule Ball. . . and oh yea, they know about the Veela, so Fleur Delacour. . . _

_Durmstrang and Beauxbaton will of course make an appearance, I substituted Cedric's place with Sakura. . . hehe, Krum will of course appear, the tasks of the Triwizard Tournament will remain the same. . . and then, Umbridge would be appearing, slight conflicts gonna appear of course! Well, that's bout' all that I could tell without spoiling the plot of this fanfic. _

**Keys to take note:**

". . ." Speech

'. . .' thinking or dream status

--- --- --- --- Seemingly another scene or circumstance

****

Forgive and Forget

**_Prologue: Escaping Do Not Results in Happiness..._**

_Does True Love ever exist in this world? If it does, please come to me and save me from this wreck I am in now. . . I'm dying inside, help me, save me. . ._

--- --- --- --- ---

"HoEEEE!!!!!" Sakura exclaimed as she rushed down the stairs. Frantically, she gulped down her ummm. . . breakfast all in one shot, dashing out of the house after that. . .

"I'm late, late, late! Kero-chan, why didn't you inform me that today's the _first_ day of SCHOOL???" She muttered under her breath while running. She had forgotten to put on her skates, or rather. . . simply no time at all. Finally, her school came in sight.

"Yatta. . ." She heaved a sigh of relief before a voice shocked her.

"Sakura. . ."

She turned around, eyes widening in shock. She said, nearly inaudibly, "Syaoran-kun?"

Okay, now, let me explain a little. Details first – Kinomoto Sakura was in her 17th year of life. Syaoran had left her in Tomoeda, Japan, for Hong Kong, China, to settle some other stuffs in his family. At first, it was thought that Syaoran would come back in about a month or so, but then, time flies like nobody's business – Syaoran was gone for two years. . .

"You're back?" Her lips quivered a little, as if she's about to burst into tears any moment soon.

"Yea. . . sorry to have made you wait that long. . ." Syaoran said, trying to avoid her gaze for whatever reason there might be.

"No! I'm glad that you're back! As long as you're coming back, I could wait forever." Yup, tears of joy spilled out from her eyes that very moment.

"I'm sorry. . ." Syaoran said after hesitating for a while.

"I told you that I could wait forever. You don't need to apologize." Sakura said, tilting her head to the side in confusion.

"No, not that. . . but. . ." Syaoran started, looking at Sakura straight in the eye, "I-. . ."

_**RRRRRRINNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGG**_

The school bell rang. . . or rather, it's the second bell. The first bell, or rather, the warning bell had gone ages ago. So this clearly announces that Sakura was late. . . yup, as early as a late-comer could ever be!

"Gomen, I need. . . no, I must go now! Ja ne!" Sakura bade Syaoran a goodbye before running into the school compound, leaving Syaoran half complete with his sentence.

Syaoran looked down at the ground, his face composed of guilt and sadness. He said to no one, "I'm sorry. . ." The gentle breeze carried his lone-filled voice away, somewhere far, far away. . . . . .

--- --- --- ---

"You mean Syaoran is back? For real?" Tomoyo inquired, grasping Sakura's hand tightly.

"For real! I mean I saw him this morning when I am just outside the gates!" Sakura said.

"Are you sure you're not hallucinating??? You'd been imagining that Syaoran was back for this whole year!" Tomoyo noted to Sakura.

"It's definitely not just a hallucination. . ." Sakura suddenly trailed off, as if something had struck her.

"Anything wrong?" Tomoyo asked concernedly.

"I forgot! Now how do I contact him???" Sakura started to panic, muttering "What to do" and "How" over and over again.

"Sakura-chan, I, truthfully, think that Syaoran-kun will come and find you again!" Tomoyo smiled at Sakura delicately.

Sakura pondered for a while before nodding, saying in some sort of a joking manner, "Why, of course! Why hadn't I thought of that. . . Sakura no baka."

Tomoyo and Sakura burst out laughing. Sakura petals landed softly on the lush green grass, gentle breezes carried some away. The cheerful laughter rang through the gardens, bringing smiles to each and every one who heard it. But little did Sakura know what would happen next. . .

--- --- --- ---

Sakura skipped happily down the way back home, humming a tune happily. She must had been thinking that she would meet Syaoran again, today. Reaching back home, she took off her shoes, her happy mood still not diminished.

"Tadaima!!!" She chirped out happily, her emerald eyes glistening in happiness.

"Okaeri." Her father, Kinomoto Fujitaka, walked out of the kitchen while stirring a bowl of mixture, likely to be that night's dinner. His voice sounded terribly worried.

"Daijoubu, otou-san?" Sakura asked, concerned. It was not daily that her father sounded so worried after all.

"Syaoran. . ." Fujitaka begun, but was immediately being interrupted by the ever-genki Sakura.

"Syaoran??? Did he pass by?" Sakura asked, walking up to her father at such a pace that it actually startled him, making him drop the mixture. It did not bother Sakura a single bit, she kept looking at Fujitaka with anticipation in her eyes.

"Sakura. . ." He sighed, walking back to the kitchen to grab a cloth to clean up the mess. While cleaning, he said, "Yes, Syaoran did drop by. . ."

"Mou. . . otou-san, why didn't you make him stay? You KNOW I'm gonna return soon!" Sakura pouted.

"Demo, Sakura. . ." Fujitaka said, while after cleaning, walking back to the kitchen to wash the cloth. While washing, he was muttered something like "There goes the dinner" and "Must prepare again".

"Gomen. . ." Sakura, finally, realized that the dinner had been split because of her, apologized. Rather slow, if you ask me. . . but can't be blamed, you see, Sakura was really eager to see Syaoran and have a GOOD talk with him.

"But anyway, he looks kinda dispirited when he drop in. . . carrying his luggage as if he's heading towards the airport, which he most likely is anyway. Well, he did left a letter for you though. There, it's on the table." Fujitaka said.

"Airport..." The sparkles of anticipation vanished, being replaced by darkened emerald. She dropped her bag and ran hurriedly over to pick up the letter. Clutching it tightly, she glanced through it quickly, though absorbing the content thoroughly.

"_Dear Sakura,_

_Sorry, I couldn't stay with you any longer. Mother, or rather, the elders forced me to get engaged with another. I know it might come as a great shock to you, but I found that I actually turn out to like that girl. Sakura, I know that you might not be able to accept this, but well, I could say nothing about it. Sorry. . ._

_I'm heading over to the airport right now. I was intending to tell you this morning, but I never had a chance to. Hope that you could remain happy and that this didn't shatter your heart thoroughly. . ._

_Li Syaoran"_

"Syaoran. . .why? Why!" Sakura whispered fiercely, her hands shaking violently. Clutching the letter tightly to her heart, she ran out of the house at top speed, determined to get to the airport before Syaoran flew back to Hong Kong, China.

"Sakura?" Fujitaka walked out of the kitchen, totally clueless of what that had happened, though, he sensed the anger and depression.

--- --- --- ---

"Syaoran!!!" Sakura screamed out in the airport, running through crowds. She was trying her best to find Syaoran and tell him her true words.

"Syaoran!" Sakura's determined voice sounded through the airport. People were looking at her. That's either out of curiosity or out of irritation. Her determination of finding Syaoran could not waver even in this sort of circumstances.

"Sakura. . . you shouldn't have come." Syaoran's voice sounded from behind her.

"Syaoran! What's the meaning of this! Why couldn't you tell me personally! This sort of things. . ." Sakura said, tears were forming in her eyes, though if it was out of depression or out of anger. . . no one could tell.

Syaoran kept silent, only staring into Sakura's darkened emeralds in dejection.

"Tell me! Don't keep silent! Answer me!" Sakura shouted angrily, the tears spilling out uncontrollably.

"I-I tried to tell you! You ran off before I could even end my sentence and when I went to your house, you're not back home yet! I was rushing. I can't let the Elders know that I came to Japan. I didn't seek their permission to travel to Japan! I came out of my own accord, to settle things between you and me. . ." Syaoran said, but Sakura didn't let Syaoran finish.

"You love your fiancée right? You love her right?" Sakura asked softly, her hair falling in front of her eyes, shielding it from Syaoran's. It was a sudden mood change, and it startled Syaoran quite a bit.

Syaoran hesitated for a while before saying in a voice full of determination, "Yes."

"I see. Well, don't break her heart. Yea, don't ever break any one's heart anymore. . . One is enough already." Sakura said quietly, now, she had seemed to calm down.

"Thanks- thanks for understanding." Syaoran said, voice nearly cracking. It might had been because he had not expected Sakura to accept it so easily, but then again, who knows.

"No," Sakura started, forcing a weak smile on her face, "You're welcome! Be sure you don't let her down! Don't disappoint her."

"Yes, I promise. I must go now then. Sayonara, Sakura." Syaoran said, forcing a smile onto his face too. Don't think that he's the bad guy, he'd got his own troubles too.

"Sayonara!" Sakura bade Syaoran a goodbye. And therefore, Syaoran left pulling his luggage behind him. Just right after Syaoran disappeared from her sight, Sakura ran off, with tears streaming down her face. Mental screams of help rang through her.

She- yea, Kinomoto Sakura, she- was lost. Her world went crashing down on her.

--- --- --- ---

"Nakuru, I'll be going over to Sakura's for a moment. . ." Eriol started, but was cut off by a hyper Suppi.

"Sweet!!! Give me MORE SWEET!!!" Suppi screamed as she went flying through the wall. Eriol sighed and repaired it almost immediately, though he heard a loud "Bang" sound after that.

"Eriol-sama! Did you just say that you're gonna go over to Japan?" Ruby asked. She was playing with her new powers. Oh well, I mean Eriol, being tired of changing Nakuru to Ruby every time Nakuru wanted to change to Ruby, had gave Ruby power to change from one form to another, I mean from Nakuru to Ruby.

"Hai, I-"Eriol nodded and again, began to start his sentence but not a moment later, was rather irritated.

"Yes?" Nakuru asked innocently.

"Stop changing, you're making me dizzy. And as I was saying before, I'm going over to Sakura's for a moment. You see, Albus had invited her over to Hogwarts. . ." Eriol was again, cut off by Nakuru.

"What??? She's invited to HOGWARTS???" Ruby exclaimed loudly.

"Yes, Ruby! And STOP changing and interrupting my sentence. I'm getting a slight headache here." Eriol said, an 'anger-vein' popping out.

"Hai, hai! Last change!" Ruby grinned while she changed back to Nakuru.

"Okay, and as I was saying, Albus invited to Card Mistress to Hogwarts for. . ." Eriol paused abruptly.

"Ehh. . . what is wrong?" Nakuru asked curiously.

"I didn't know why. . ." Eriol sweatdropped. Nakuru fell down anime style. Eriol looked terribly offended, "He didn't tell me. So I'll go prepare some stuffs now, if you could excuse me."

Nakuru grinned broadly, "And I'll prepare your flight."

Eriol nodded, "Though I could easily manage it using the staff, it isn't that serious to get there quickly. . . but oh well. . . meanwhile, I'll go check on her then."

"To make sure she's living fine, right?" Nakuru smiled mischievously now, "Ahh, I know, I know." Eriol had shot her glare, though it was partly to hide his embarrassment.

"Just shut up, will yer'?" Eriol said, walking away in quick paces.

--- --- --- ---

Eriol walked over to his room. Closing the door softly behind him, he walked over to his desk, sitting down and taking out a mirror. Muttering an incantation, an image started to appear in it. . . an image of Sakura's bedroom. Sakura. . . she was crouching in her bed sobbing away. Even the worried knocks on her door did not seem to make her want to get up and answer it. Something was terribly wrong and Eriol could sense it.

"Sorry, Nakuru. But I think I must certainly go now without my staff, even using the staff would waste too much of my time now . . . Time is more precious now, more than anything." Eriol whispered as he disappeared into thin air.

Moments later, Nakuru came bursting in his room, crying out, "Suppi's throwing her tantrum again!" She blinked for a few mere seconds before bursting out of the room, now crying out, "Master's gone!!!"

Little did she know how serious the matters was. . . It was rather careless of her to miss the glowing golden words lingering in the air Went, please do not worry about me. Things regarding clothes and such, I'll settle it myself. Will be back soon. But sooner or later, Nakuru would discover it anyway. . .

--- --- --- ---

The doorbell rang for a moment before Sakura heard a loud "thud" from below. Well, the previous knockings didn't make her get up, but this did. Fujitaka and Touya were both out, so there's only her left in the house to be concerned about the strange doorbell.

However depressed she was, she couldn't ignore her responsibilities at home still. Walking down the stairs slowly, she walked over to the front door. She opened it and the sight sure shocked her.

"Eriol!" She exclaimed while Eriol, who was dead tired at this point of time, fell into her arms, all drenched due to the heavy rain pour.

"I-I'm here. . . how are y-"He lost his consciousness before he could finish his sentence.

"Eriol! Daijoubu? Daijoubu?" She asked worriedly though knowing Eriol could not possibly answer her. Having Eriol suddenly appear in Japan was surprising, as she had not kept in contact with him for the past years.

Helpless as she might be, she still managed to drag Eriol all the way to the living room, settling him in the couch.

--- --- --- ---

"Tadaima!" Kinomoto Touya shouted, but only echoes of his voice answered him. "Strange" He muttered over and over again.

Finally, another living being answered him, "Onii-san!"

"Kaijuu." Touya smirked, expecting Sakura to react the same way whenever he calls her that. Sakura didn't do anything but drag him all the way to the living room.

"Whoa. . . what have you got there?" Touya said teasingly.

"It's not the time to joke! Eriol-kun's got a high fever! Must be the rain. Where's the fever cure?" Sakura asked, shooting at Touya a glare.

"Fever? That's a bad one. . ." Touya muttered while heading up towards somewhere to find the first-aid kit, though I really don't know if medicines for illness are kept there too. . .

When Touya was coming down, he threw Sakura a small box of fever cure and a thermometer.

"Arigatou!" Sakura thanked her brother while she hurried to the kitchen to pour a cup of warm water for Eriol.

--- --- --- ---

"Wh-where am I?" Eriol started to regain consciousness. His vision is still partly blurred because he had just 'waked' up. When his vision had started to get clearer, he realized that he's in Sakura's living room. He gave a small cry of shock, "Why am I here?" He got up immediately, but felt a splitting head the moment he got up, making him fall back.

"Eriol-kun! Are you all right now? And you can't get up, you're burning to 39ºc!!!" Sakura came rushing towards him.

"Ah, Sakura! Sorry to have bothered you, but. . . are you alright?" Eriol smiled weakly at Sakura.

"Fine, very, very fine. Why?" Sakura looked away from Eriol's eyes.

"You know what I mean!" Eriol whispered fiercely despite his fever.

Sakura hesitated for a mere moment before saying determinedly to Touya, who was standing behind the wall listening to every word they were talking about, "Leave us alone, Touya."

Touya seemed to listen to Sakura and left them alone.

"Now then, tell me what had gone wrong?" Eriol asked with a tone of irritation and demand.

Sakura took a deep breath before spilling every single thing out, from when Syaoran came back to the time when Syaoran gone off. At the end of it, Sakura was sobbing forlornly once again.

"Oh. . . that baka descendant of mine. . ." Eriol muttered, suddenly finding the floor very interesting. . . too interesting that he stared at the floor with deep concentration etched onto his face, and that even when Sakura walked over to the window to answer some pecking, he did not notice. . .

Wait, did I just say peckings?

"HOEEE!!!" Sakura's trademark saying had sounded once again. And THAT definitely broke Eriol's concentration on the floor and curing him immediately. . . oh well, I mean temporarily. Eriol had rushed over to the window to check out what had happened.

He gave out a slight chuckle, saying, "Daijoubu, Sakura! This is just an old friend of mine."

Sakura seemed rather pale, trembling a little from fright, stuttering out, "I-is that an o-owl???"

Eriol grinned broadly yet so mischievously, "Of course! Now, now, let my guest in!"

Sakura opened the window and the owl, with its rather ruffled yet still seemingly smooth and slick rusty grey feathers, flew in. Sakura then found out that the owl had a letter tied to its right foot.

"Well, well. . ." Eriol mumbled while untying the letter.

"Ummm. . . Eriol-kun, what's that?" Sakura asked quietly.

Eriol gave her the letter, saying, "Open it and you'll know it. . ."

Meanwhile, the owl flew back out the window while Sakura closed it with a "thud". Opening it with curious eyes of midnight peering over her shoulders, Sakura glanced through.

"_Dear Ms. Kinomoto,_

_We are really pleased to inform you that your place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is still intact. I am sure you will find this opportunity very useful especially at this point of time. Due to your age, you'll be placed together with the 7th-years, also the last year of Hogwarts._

_And thus, please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment for 7th-years.Third-years onwards are permitted to visit the village of Hogsmeade at certain weekends, so please ensure that you give the enclosed permission form to your parent and guardian to sign._

_Term begins on 1 September. The Hogwarts Express will leave from King's Cross Station, platform nine and three-quarters, at eleven o'clock sharp._

_Yours Sincerely,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

_Headmaster"_

"Eriol. . . what is all this about Hogwarts?" Sakura asked, raising a brow while continuing with a angry tone, "And why had you NOT been keeping in touch with us!"

"Sakura, please understand. I'd been away from home these few years, away at Hogwarts. About Hogwarts, I guess I'll explain it to you one by one when we reached England." Eriol said.

"B-but I haven't consented to it!" Sakura argued back.

"You don't wanna go?" Eriol asked.

"N-no, it's not that. But otou-san, Touya and most of my friends are in Japan! And why must we go to England?" Sakura asked back.

Eriol smiled, "Well, we need to get our school stuffs, and then you know that we'll be boarding the Hogwarts Express at King's Cross Station which is at London. . ." And the rest didn't have to be said since Sakura gave a slight nod, meaning that she'd understood.

Sakura pondered for a while, "I-I'm willing to go. . . if you're coming with me."

Eriol nodded, "Of course! I'd been attending it for a few years since I left. And didn't I mentioned that WE would be and so on?"

Sakura smiled slightly, "I forgot. Well, I'm sure that otou-san would never oblige if it would do me well. . . I need a break from this thing. . . I'm too stressed up with all. And, I wanna f-forget S-Syaoran."

Eriol seemed a little shocked, "Are you certain? That's your first love, ya know?"

Sakura hesitated, but nodded, her eyes full of determination, "Yes, I am firm to forget him."

Eriol didn't do anything but smile slightly yet ever so painfully, "Well, if that's your decision, I'll respect it." Sakura just smiled back at him. but though it wasn't shown, Eriol knew, he knew that Sakura was actually forcing herself to smile.

But what he doesn't know hurt her most. . .

--- --- --- ---

"Otou-san. . . ummm, may I go to ummm. . ." Sakura fumbled with her words, going a deep red.

"Hogwarts." Eriol finished the sentence for her, looking a little superior. Eriol had recovered from his fever completely now.

"Yup, Hogwarts! So otou-san, may I go???" Sakura inquired with anticipation from within her eyes. Though, well, it was just a pretense. . . no, an escape from reality. . .

"Hogwarts? Oh of course! I knew that you'll get invited someday!" Fujitaka beamed at Sakura. Sakura leaped up and clung onto her father, muttering "Arigatou!" over and over again.

"But, why did you know what is Hogwarts?" Sakura suddenly asked, looking at him blankly.

Fujitaka smiled, stating as if it was the most obvious thing on Earth, "Touya got invited to attend the school when he hit the age of. . ." He trailed off, seemingly forgot the age.

"Eleven, Kinomoto-san, Eleven." Eriol told him.

"Yes, Eleven. But Touya rejected it without pondering, and I wonder why. . ." Fujitaka grinned a little. He obviously knew the reason to that.

"Oh. . . hai. . ." Sakura only managed to get these words out from her mouth. Eriol looked at her as if waiting for her to continue.

He sighed and asked on the behalf of Sakura, "Kinomoto-san, you certainly know that Hogwarts is in England, or particularly London, ne?"

Fujitaka nodded, "And you wanna bring her to England right? When is the flight?"

Eriol looked slightly surprised but he smiled. . . rather fake innocently though, saying, "Tomorrow afternoon, I'd booked the air tickets while I'm in England. . . but if there's any problems, I am willing to alter the date of course."

Fujitaka shook her head, "There should be no problem, but I'll certainly miss her. She'll be staying over at Hogwarts over the term I suppose. But well, I wonder why had she the need to arrive at England that early? Term doesn't start till September I presume."

Eriol's eyes glinted, "I have my own plans."

Fujitaka's eyes widened, "W-what do you mean by that?"

Eriol laughed a little, rather heartily though, saying, "Don't think astray, Sakura needs training on using her magic without her staff, and we need to shop for her school stuffs anyway."

Fujitaka laughed warmly too, saying, "I didn't think off course. And yes, she'll need to shop for her books and such. What kind of currency do the wizarding world use?"

Eriol said, "Please do not worry about it, Kinomoto-san. To be truthful, I do own quite a fortune, not to be boasting of course and thus, I am willing to sponsor fully for her year in Hogwarts."

Fujitaka seemed shocked, thoroughly shocked, "No, I can't allow that. I should pay some responsibility, after all, Sakura's my precious daughter."

Eriol smiled, shaking his hand, "Well, I'm the one who insisted on her attending Hogwarts, so I should pay full responsibility for whatever she does."

Fujitaka and Eriol started arguing for a while, each insisting on paying full responsibility for Sakura. Finally, Sakura cut in with a loud ear piercing, "Stop it!!!" Both of them seemed shocked and a blush crept up their faces. I supposed that they were thinking that it was rather childish of them to argue over this sort of trivial matter.

"I should get my say too." Sakura pouted, placing her hands on her hips. She continued, "Otou-san, I trust Eriol."

"This is not about trust. I know you trust him very well, and I trust him fully too that he would not hurt you in any way. But, I'm your parent; I shouldn't just leave you in the full responsibility of another." Fujitaka reasoned out.

Sakura shook her head, "You'd done more than enough for me already. . ." She gave Fujitaka a puppy-eye look.

Fujitaka sighed, "Okay, I respect your decision. Though you made it sound as if you're marrying Eriol here."

Both of them turned to a deep shade of scarlet, deep and I mean DEEP.

"Otou-san!!!" Sakura moaned. Fujitaka smiled broadly, I'm sure he's thinking that Sakura was beginning to recover from her inner injuries. . .

But, it's best that Fujitaka don't try to pry too much in Sakura's inner world. It'll get shattered . . . the fragile glass frame protecting Sakura's inner world was slowly crumbling, crumbling to nothing . . . nothing at all.

--- --- --- ---

The day had arrived for Sakura to leave Japan, Tomoeda to arrive at the whole new unfamiliar ground, England. Tomoyo was sniffing away, mumbling between sobs "I'll miss you", "Write back soon", "I wanna go with you", "Good trip" and "You're always my best friend no matter where you would be".

"Saa, Sayonara, minna-san." Sakura said, her eyes starting to water a little.

"Be sure you take good care of yourself, Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo said, waving her lilac handkerchief as Sakura and Eriol walked towards the gate.

"Sayonara. . ." Fujitaka said, waving his hand, smiling slightly.

Just as Sakura and Eriol was about to enter, a group of voice stopped them.

"Matte yo!!!"

Sakura turned back and was surprised to see Chiharu, Rika, Naoko and Takashi. Let me explain things again, Chiharu and Takashi got into a different High School from Tomoyo and Sakura, and they nearly lost contact with them. Naoko got into the School of Arts, Literature Section, and a different school too. Rika got into another High School, though it was rather near the school Tereda-sensei was teaching. Basically, they only kept in contact with an occasional annual gathering or a surprisingly rare phone call or a tri-monthly letter.

"Chiharu, Rika, Naoko, Yamazaki-kun! What are you doing here?" Sakura exclaimed.

"Tomoyo informed us that you're leaving Japan. . ." Naoko said between pants.

Rika then said, "Heard that you're leaving for England. . . well, have a safe trip there!"

Sakura nodded, smiling sadly, "I'll miss all of you, but I'll certainly write back more often than before!!!"

Takashi started, "Talk about England, did you know that in some parts of it, there's still magical items being buried deep underground. And did you know whoever laid their hands on those magical items, they'll either get struck by lightning and become a genius or lunatic, or get instant famous and wealth or lose all their current possessions and turn mad? And did you know. . ."

"Cut it out!" Chiharu said, pulling on Takashi's ear. All of them broke into fits of laughter. After what seemed to be a good laugh, the announcement that the plane Eriol and Sakura will be taking is about to take off, and. . . they were searching for the two of them.

"Ja, Sayonara ne?" Sakura waved her hands and waited for an answer.

"Yea, we'll await for your letter! Sayonara, Sakura, Eriol." Tomoyo said.

"We certainly will, as long as we reach the school. . . about two months later!" Eriol said in a joking manner.

Tomoyo giggled a little, "Two months ne? I'll wait for sure!"

"Bleh! Eriol's talking rubbish again, I'll write a letter back at a bi-monthly basis!!! Zettai!" Sakura said, giggling also.

Despite the seemingly cheerful giggle Sakura was giving out, her aura and her eyes gave it all to a very observant one – Eriol. Eriol looked at Sakura sadly. Sakura's aura was kinda of a dull pinkish colour, her once so sparkly and floaty emerald eyes turned to nothing but a dull jade-green that had lost its sparkle, having only emptiness and confusion swirling around in it. . .

--- --- --- ---

Finally, Sakura and Eriol boarded the plane. Sakura took the window seat, but she's not looking outside. She's just plain resting her head against the wall, closing her eyes to catch a mere nap. Eriol took out a book from his bag, appearing to read it, but deep down in his mind, were thoughts of how to revive the original carefree Sakura back.

"Sakura-" Eriol began, but found out soon that Sakura was fast asleep. But, not a single serene that Sakura normally displayed on her sleeping face appeared here, it was screwed up slightly in agony and horror. Sakura dreamt of something she hated to the core, something that she had always want to bury it deep in her heart, never to touch it again.

_'Syaoran, no. . . don't leave me! Sakura ran over to Syaoran, who was standing there with cold, hard brown eyes. She caught hold of his white sleeve. He whispered a slight apology before shaking Sakura's hand off. She fell to the ground, clutching herself, tears were streaming down like river flowing endlessly._

_Sakura thought of the times Syaoran and her were together, the feelings she held. She thought of the times when they were off capturing cards, how grateful she was to Syaoran. She thought of the time when Syaoran comforted her, she would have never got over it that quickly. . . How her heart pricked and pained when Syaoran shook her off._

_Her mind was filled with confusion of anger and angst. Half of her wanted to take revenge, but the other half of her just wished that she had never met Syaoran. Such cruel fate. . .'_

"Sakura, Sakura?" Eriol shook Sakura from her nap.

Sakura was shocked awake, something cold and wet could be felt at her cheeks. She had been crying. Her heart throbbed more than ever, she placed a hand to over her heart as she bent over to cry out silently. She was ignoring Eriol.

"Sakura, are you alright?" Eriol asked concernedly, despite being ignored by Sakura. Sakura just kept on sobbing without a sound, tears trickled down her cheeks delicately, agony and grief could be found dwelling deep in her eyes.

If just anyone, just anyone, tried to pry into her heart now. . . I suppose Sakura couldn't take it, she couldn't take it. She'll shatter, she'll break down. . . she'll die.

After what seemed like eternity, Sakura finally calmed down, leaning back down on the seat but her face were facing the window. She was concealing her face from Eriol. Eriol sighed, 1/6 of him relieved that Sakura had stopped crying, 1/3 of him worrying for Sakura, and 1/2 of him feeling miserable, seeing Sakura crying like that and he was not of any help.

Eriol continued with his so-called reading, well, he's just staring at the book, his mind was wandering elsewhere. 'Why, Sakura, why must you bottle up all your feelings. . ." It rang through his mind over and over again, trying to find out the answer. . . he's so engrossed in his thoughts that he gradually fell asleep, though a look of anxiety and distress was etched upon his face. . .

**To Be Continued**

**Author's Note:** So, how is it? Does it sound lame? Criticize me all you want, I want to improve now. . . I accept all flames except for the grammar and occasional foolish spelling mistakes! Review, k? I might take a half month to a month to update. . .


	2. Adapting to a New Environment, A New Ski...

Disclaimers: So once again, I must make it clear though it isn't really needed. But just in case some baka money-hungry idiot moron come venturing here, this must be clear. I don't and never would own Card Captor Sakura and Harry Potter, the two belongs, respectively, to the ingenious ladies that rocked the manga sekai – CLAMP – and also equally ingenious J.K. Rowling that brought the Harry Potter world into our puny little world. I'd stated the disclaimers, thus, you can't sue me for using their characters! Also, I own the overall plot!

Author's Note: Sorry! Sorry for not updating for SOOOOO long! I really feel very remorseful here! But then I hoped that you guys didn't think that I had discontinued this ficcie as I did with all my previous fanficcies… I SWEAR that I wouldn't! so… well, accept my apology please? . ! Onegai!

Well anyway, sorry bout' da last chap, the pairings should turn out to be Sakura/Eriol and no more. But the overall decision lies with the audiences, if enough people insist on Sakura/Syaoran, I might as well make a twist in it and fulfill my reviewers! So, enjoy! Thanks for da reviews! Reviews shall be answered at the end!

Forgive and Forget

Chapter One: Adapting To A New Environment, A New Skill

_I don't want to imagine, imagine a world without you. Don't leave me, I can't live in a world without you. Without you, my world turned grey, without the colors of life. You're the light of my life. But now, I must adapt, adapt to a world without you, adapt to a world where he existed. . . _

--- --- --- ---

"Sakura-chan! Wake up from your deep slumber!" Nakuru's voice rang through their mind. Sakura opened her eyes slowly, only to be shocked by an oversized face of Kero.

"Konnichiwa!" Kero said, beaming at Sakura.

"Kero-chan!" Sakura looked shocked for a while before narrowing her eyes down at Kero, "You SCARED me! How dare you!" A seemingly joking tone was hidden in her voice.

Kero took no noticed of her and instead, he said in a serious tone, totally different from the atmosphere before, "You don't look okay."

Sakura looked lost for words, but then retorted back immediately, "I AM okay, just shocked by you!"

"No, that's not it. Your eyes, it looked dimmer than before, and I can feel it." Kero stated out.

Sakura bit her lips, her mind wandering in deep concentration. Yes, it's true, it's certainly much dimmer, much more. 'How can Kero-chan feel it? I did hide it pretty well!' Sakura thought.

But she didn't hide it well, it was obvious to Cerberus, the Guardian Beast of the Clow Cards. It was also obvious to the half-reincarnation of Clow Reed, Hiragizawa Eriol. It was of course obvious to the Sakura Cards and to Ruby Moon and Spinal Sun. In all, it was obvious to any strong magic users.

"Tell me, it would be better to spill it out." Kero said, landing on the glass table of the Hiragizawa Mansion.

Well, okay, let me again explain things. They were now in Eriol's mansion. How in the HELL did they get there? Well, somehow, Ruby Moon got them down by magic. First, by appearing in the plane invisibly, next, by carrying them and transporting them into the mansion. I really wonder how they manage it. By the way, both were sleeping when it was carried out. And then, when they reached the mansion, Eriol awoke and walked off after muttering something to Nakuru.

Sakura wasn't intending to tell anyone, though she did told Eriol, but that was an exception. There's something about Eriol that made Sakura want to trust her, something that Syaoran don't have. She was fretting over that matter but then chucked it aside with the conclusion that Eriol was her half-father.

But a voice deep inside her kept repeating, "There was more to your relations with Eriol, something that would be kept over the lifetimes, something that would never be broken over the centuries, over the lifetimes." But she ignored it anyway.

"No, there's nothing that I am hiding from you! Nothing that I could tell you! Nothing that you would understand!" Sakura said angrily, tears forming in her eyes.

"Calm down, Sakura, calm down! Why did you suddenly get so agitated?" Kero said, sweatdropping.

Sakura, as if realizing that her attitude wasn't polite, stood up immediately, muttering a "Sorry, please excuse me" and ran off.

"Sakura-chan!" Nakuru cried out.

"This is terrible. . ." Suppi muttered.

"Why?" Kero asked, clueless. Suppi answered, "Because-"

But, she was interrupted by the loudest shriek she ever heard. Nakuru muttered under her breath, "This isn't terrible, it is dreadfully horrible! We're gonna get killed by master!"

"What had happened?" Eriol walked out from an archway, a frown crossed his face.

"Sakura she-" Nakuru said, stumbling over her words. Giving up on words, she pointed over to the door across the room, the door that Sakura ran into, the door across the door Eriol walked out of . . . and the door that had a _blood red slash_ across it.

Eriol paled a lot. Without even breathing a word, he dashed after Sakura. Kero still looked clueless, "What was that?"

"You see, this mansion is REALLY old. Ancient maybe? And thus, rumors stated that, THAT door linked to the underworld." Suppi explained, terror and secrecy dripping off every single word.

"NANI?" Kero exclaimed, a look of disbelief etched onto his broad and ug- (Kero: eh-hem) I mean cute (Kero: scratch) Okay! Handsome face. (Kero: Broad grin, puffs out chest) He then dashed to the door, intending to run through it, "I got to SAVE SAKURA!"

"Oh, how heroic." Nakuru muttered sarcastically, yawning away.

"I meant it! Don't you believe me?" Kero told Nakuru, hovering just behind the door. He was positioned to dash any moment, but for an instance, I thought he looked frightened.

Nakuru had a sly grin on her face, and in a taunting manner, she said, "Go on then, or are you saying that you, the great and ferocious Guardian Beast of the Clow Cards – Cerberus – is terribly afraid of the underworld?"

Kero's lower lip (A/N: Say, does he even have those lips that we human have?) quivered a little, before he put up a strong front. He puffed out his chest, tiny eyes tried to appear heroic, but, define try – to make an effort or an attempt to do or achieve something and an attempt made to do or achieve something. So, just an attempt, right?

silence

So define attempt – to try to do something, especially without much expectation of success. Kero failed, and _badly_ too. Lastly, he burst out crying, flying back and plopping onto the sofa.

"sobs, sobs Right! I'm nothing but a stupid old Guardian Beast! I'm afraid!" Kero admitted, throwing his fists onto the soft cushioned velvet sofa.

Nakuru, patting Kero, said in an apologetic voice, though it's filled with slyness, "Sorry for scaring you, but there's really nothing in there but plenty of boggarts."

"What's a boggart?" Kero asked, suddenly stopped crying pathetically. He narrowed his eyes at Nakuru, then at Suppi.

Suppi gave a nervous laugh before disappearing into another door.

"Well, a boggart is a shape-shifter-" Nakuru started but then trailed off, as Kero seems to be utterly confused.

"What's a shape-shifter? And why hadn't I heard of a BOGGART?" Kero asked, tilting his head in confusion.

"Well, I'll start from the beginning-" Nakuru said, "Just for your information. Just mere years ago, Eriol-sama got invited into Hogwarts, well, to be exact, Eriol-sama and me. And going back further, ever since Kaho's mysterious death-"

A horrified Kero cut her sentence off.

"Kaho's DEAD?" Kero screamed, his voice echoed through corridors and corridors, but never through the door with a bloody slash across. Why? Because-

--- --- --- ---

"Sakura! Where are you?" Eriol called out, but his voice only rebounded back to him. "Damn it-" He cursed under his breath, "Why didn't I remove the sound-proof of the corridors? Now calling out wouldn't be of any help. Though Sakura's scream was really that loud that it could penetrate through the soundproof-ness of the walls." He smiled that familiar smile years back.

Eriol then took out a thin slip of wood, muttering, "Lumos." The thin slip of wood became a source of light, though little as it may seem, it is of a great help. But the reincarnation of Clow Reed certainly isn't only that much.

"Baka-" He hit himself on the head with that lighted wand , "Why did I forgotten that I'm a sorcerer?"

Ever since he got admitted into Hogwarts, he had stopped using his staff. Why? Because he didn't have to. For once, he wanted to know how is it like to be a normal wizard and not one of the great sorcerers that are scarce over the face of Earth. And over the years, though short as they appear to be, he had forgotten that he is a sorcerer.

And thus, with a flick of his hands, a fireball that glowed as if there's no tomorrow appeared, and the whole corridor and the next and next and next were lighted up brightly. A gloating grin hung on his face for a sheer second, before it vanished as he remembered: A sorcerer could have easily done that.

--- --- --- ---

Because the wall is soundproof, as simple as that.

Nakuru continued, eyes filling with crystal tears, "Kaho's dead, no one knew why. At least, no one of the non-wizarding world knew why. But Eriol, he knew, the Dark Lord Voldemort had killed her with a simple yet deadly curse, the Avada Kedavra. Ever since that, he changed. An 180º change, always lurking around lifelessly. Worse than Sakura, I must admit."

Kero butted in, "What's the Avada Kedavra? And what is Voldemort?"

Nakuru gave a mere gasp, "You don't know? Why, you didn't know that Clow Reed had once attended Hogwarts? You didn't know that Avada Kedavra is one of the Unforgivable curses? And you don't know Voldemort? Sheesh, I thought the Guardian Beast should be more intelligent than that."

Kero cleared his throat, "I do know that Clow Reed had once attended Hogwarts, but that is centuries ago! I don't suppose that Voldemort thingy had existed yet. And I didn't follow Clow Reed to Hogwarts because I wasn't created yet, the Clow Cards weren't created yet, so I couldn't possibly have know the spells and hexes of the wizarding world!"

"Oh, ok-" Nakuru answered sheepishly, "So, let me explain right from the beginning-"

--- --- ---

Another loud shriek of Sakura's echoed through the brightened hallways. Eriol's keen sense of hearing picked up the direction of where the originator of the shriek came from.

He ran, the fireball extinguished, leaving the corridors in complete darkness. But he didn't care, he need not care anyway- since he knew the way around. He knew how the corridors twist and turn, he knew when it ends and where the many doors were located. He knew everything behind the door that had the blood red slash like the lines on his palm.

At the last turn, he found a door. That- is the door that led to Sakura.

--- --- ---

"So Hogwarts is-" Nakuru started, but was immediately cut off.

"I know what Hogwarts is. It is a school for wizards and witches right? I know there's four houses and what's Quidditch too. Just tell me why was Sakura invited there." Kero snapped.

"So I needn't explain anything at all! I did not know why Sakura was invited there too!" Nakuru retorted back.

"Why, and I thought Eriol should have told you something!" He snapped back.

"The problem is he doesn't know anything too!" Nakuru shouted, the cross-like 'anger-veins' popping out. She was getting impatient, and I seriously do not think that she could last any longer now.

"Well, then you're stupid!" He gritted his teeth (if he had), and flew off. I did not know what had made Kero so snappy, but well, he should calm down after a while, or when desserts came? Ha, I bet he'll be present and all happy when cakes and stuffs appears!

Nakuru seemed too angry though, her face is totally red. Not from embarrassment, but anger. She shot a glare to the wall (poor, poor wall), and transformed to Ruby Moon.

"Tell Eriol-sama that I'll be off at town." She told Suppi and flew off, equally snappish.

Suppi wasn't panicking that those two weren't on good terms, nor was she worried about any, she rejoiced instead. Why? There were no more Kero and hyper Nakuru to disturb her from reading! So, she settled down on the couch and started flipping through the book, reading solemnly.

--- --- ---

Eriol twisted open the knob, the first sight was- a sobbing Sakura. She looked- desperate, hopeless, insane. Tears streamed down her face uncontrollably, her eyes were wide open- it is of cold hard jade, a blank one. Not sparkles of anything, tears, life and such. Her hair was in complete disarray, her hands settled on the ground, her back was crouched over, her knees were bent.

She looked- helpless.

Eriol then glanced around, he found Syaoran. Not the normal one, but one who was emotionless. He was- well, not exactly doing anything. He was just- just- leaving Sakura alone.

Eriol walked silently over to Sakura before he pulled her into a tight yet comforting embrace. Sakura just sobbed in it. She clutched onto Eriol's sleeve tightly, making creases.

Eriol took out his wand and muttered, "Riddikulus." Syaoran, or rather, a boggart reflecting Sakura's most inner fear, burst into flames and withered.

"I-I, Eriol- oh I, how- I-" She stumbled over her words, she couldn't find the right words to depict her feelings right now. Instead, she gave into sobs.

"Calm down, please- you need not be like that." He repeated it over and over again soothingly, while embracing Sakura comfortingly.

Sakura soon calmed down, though still breathing quite unsteadily. Eriol gave a grim smile, before letting her fall into a deep slumber, void of nightmares and Syaoran.

--- --- ---

"Where- where am I?" Sakura woke up, only to find her vision slightly blurry. She couldn't make out where she was right now. She could only vaguely recognize a desk, a chair, and a bookshelf and- nothing else.

"I see that you had awoken." A soft voice broke her from her deep concentration trying to recognize stuffs from the room.

She turned to look at him.

"Eriol?" Sakura asked, half-whispering.

"Yea, are you feeling better now?" He asked softly.

Sakura paused for a while, before nodding. Silence took over, for quite a while. Sakura sat there, unaware of what to say. Her mind was still processing the events that had came and went as fast as it appeared. She was totally oblivious when she came here, totally oblivious of what she was about to face.

She- only wanted to escape from herself. She only wanted to escape from her inner self. She only wanted to escape.

Sakura hated it, she hated that she felt so vulnerable without Syaoran. She hated it that she had always depended on Syaoran for everything, so unconsciously too. Syaoran was her pillar, she had never thought that he would leave her, so suddenly too.

She had always thought that Syaoran would be there for her, for everything. And now, look what happened. She depended on Syaoran too much, too much that she nearly broke down to insanity when he left her. And she, yea, she, the ever-genki Sakura that had always been thought of as an independent girl, actually depended on Syaoran unconsciously-

Eriol. Eriol stood there, with a tray of plain freshly-baked bread and a cup of warm milk in his hands- he just stood there like an idiot.

Well- actually, not an idiot. But, like Sakura, several things were running through his mind. But we'll not get into details with that.

It was Eriol, again, who broke the silence. He said, "You must be famished."

Sakura turned to look at Eriol. She hesitated for god-knows-whatever, and nodded weakly. Eriol then placed the tray down onto the bedside table which must have been conjured up just instantly since it was not there in the first place, to ensure a more stable surface for Sakura to 'dine' on.

Obviously, he did not want to dirty his room.

Ahh, that was supposed to come out a joke- forget it then. I supposed you must have caught the major phrase. No? Then, you're dense. For those who caught it, great.

"Eriol, where am I right now?" Sakura asked, still not touching the food. Not just yet.

"My house, why?"

"No, I mean where in your house?"

"Why, it's my bedroom. Doesn't it look so?" He asked.

"Ahh, no." Sakura paused. Eriol gave her a strange look. She continued, "It does look like a bedroom," it carries a hint of sarcasm in it, "at least, it has a bed in it."

"Wow, Sakura, I didn't know that you got a sense of humor." He said dryly.

"Thanks for the compliment, I greatly appreciate it." She said, before taking a small bite of the slice of plain bread.

'She'd changed.' Eriol thought.

Yea, she had really changed- that is if you did not take in account of Syaoran leaving her. I believe strongly, that Sakura would still remain the same naïve dense self if she had not received such a great blow. But, I believe, that she had changed for the better.

Silence took over again and yes, for quite a while again. Oh wait, not exactly if you count in Sakura chewing noisily on that slice of bread.

"Sakura, perhaps you would like to eat a little more quietly." Eriol suggested, obviously in distaste that Sakura would eat noisily.

But then again, he had a slight hint of humor in his tone as he said that. I guess he found it- interesting, or funny how the powerful Card Mistress could possibly have such a, well, not lady-like manner. Then think again, perhaps it was just because of the recent _events_ that Sakura did not bother to keep her manners in place. Oh then again, perhaps it was that Eriol was the only person there AND Sakura felt comfortable relaxing in the midst of him. Well, just choose one of the two reasons.

Sakura threw a half-hearted glare to Eriol, which Eriol returned with a smile. She ignored him and continued chewing noisily, if possible, even more loudly as if to defy Eriol.

Eriol smiled at Sakura's childish antic.

"Well anyway, while you're at it, I might as well just take the time telling you the things that we'll have to do in the next few weeks. First, you'll have to know how to use sorcery without the aid of a staff. I suppose you should be able to master that in a week, seeing that you're the Card Mistress. Then, it'll be off to Diagon Alley to get your school stuff. That will take just one day. After, you'll need to learn and master the various spells and hexes, using a wand, and that'll probably take the rest of the weeks, seeing that you did miss 6 years of school. That's about it." He said.

Sakura nodded, still chewing on that same slice of bread. I did not know that she ate so slowly.

"So- well, I'll see you tomorrow. Take a good night's sleep. It's 11pm now, if you did not know." He turned to leave the room.

Sakura called out to stop him. She asked quietly, "Isn't this your room?"

He turned around, smiled and nodded.

"Then, shouldn't I be the one leaving?" Sakura asked.

"You could sleep here for the night. I could always sleep at one of the many guest rooms, it's not as if I couldn't sleep on any other bed than mine." He said.

Sakura nodded and mumbled, "Thanks."

"No problem." Eriol waved it off and left.

After Sakura finally finished her late night supper, she settled herself comfortably in Eriol's bed. Unconsciously, tears streaked down her cheeks.

She fell asleep at midnight, sharp.

--- --- ---

She awoke early the next morning. I bet that the sun had just barely streaked the sky with its ray. Well, you do know that Sakura was not a morning person. But no, she did not remain like that. Yea, she started to learn to like daybreak. When, you ask? Even I could not answer.

So anyway, she awoke early and wandered down the mansion. After walking through various corridors, she finally arrived where she wanted – The Kitchen.

Ever since Sakura began to awake early, she had a slight craving to cook when she awoke.

She took out various ingredients for making bread. I guess she was craving for bread that morning.

By 8am, she'd got a variety of bread on the table, complete with butter, jam and iced fruit punch. She smiled, small, but definitely genuine.

It had always put her mind at ease when she was in the kitchen. Ha, that might have sounded more familiar elsewhere, but it was true.

She settled down in a chair and waited for the others to arrive.

She waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Finally, after an hour's long wait, Ruby and Suppi began to lazily fly in.

And mind you, they were surprised to find the spread of bread on the table.

"Ohayou." Sakura greeted them, almost lazily.

Ruby glanced at Sakura, a smile slowly making its way to her lips. She thought, 'She's starting to get better'.

Suppi sat in a chair especially for her, small and able to reach the table and started on a small slice of French toast.

Ruby settled down too and picked gingerly at a weird-looking bread, a little crusty.

"What's this?" She asked.

"It'll be nice, eat it." Sakura replied simply, fingering her mid-back length auburn hair.

Ruby trusted her and took a bite. She smiled again. She had to admit it, it's really nice. It's bread that was crusty on the outside, but soft and sticky (it's thoroughly cooked, believe me) on the inside.

"Where did you learn this?" She asked.

"Through some bread book."

"Teach me someday."

"If there's time."

Then there was no more exchange of words except for occasional compliments. Then, Eriol walked in without talking. He settled and began on the bread too.

It was another moment of silence before Eriol broke it.

"I think it'll be best if we start now, the 'training' to use sorcery magic whatever you call it without your staff." Eriol said mildly.

Sakura nodded.

--- --- ---

Sakura collapsed to her knees; her sweat trickled down her forehead. She inhaled air deeply into her lungs.

"I guess even the Card Mistress will have it difficult trying to use sorcery without her staff." Eriol noted.

Sakura nodded as she forced herself to stand on two feet again.

"Continue." Sakura said, her eyes with determination.

"Fine." Eriol nodded.

Sakura closed both her eyes and tried to sense the aura in her. She has to get the aura out of her without the aid of the staff.

Now, now, let me explain. Usually, when a sorcerer (or a wizard) uses sorcery (or wizardry/magic), it uses the staff (wand) to get the aura out of him. (A/N: the aura was referred to as the source of magical power in this case). The aura was needed to cast whatever spell or to attract whatever magical force to the sorcerer (wizard). So without a staff (wand), a sorcerer (wizard) would be just an ordinary person.

Now, Sakura was trying to get the aura out and actually using it without the staff. That's definitely not impossible, as Eriol managed to do it. That meant something though; only people with high standard of magical power could do so without exhausting oneself too much.

So now, let's get back to it.

Sakura tried really intensely to get the aura (or even sense it) from inside of her. She had not yet succeeded in her past 73 tries.

Just when she was about to give in to exhaustion, she felt a strange presence. It was gentle, very gentle indeed, but it was still a presence. She momentarily forgot about her exhaustion. She concentrated harder. The presence got more and more distinct.

Finally, she dared to open her eyes.

She gasped.

She saw that she was not where she was. Yea, not in Eriol's mansion and definitely not anyone on Earth. She was somewhere in a silvery space, floating. It was bright yet dark. Excitement grew in her. She looked around and yet, she saw no one.

She kept on searching for the slightest weird thing, if this wasn't weird enough. But no, this was the only weird thing.

Suddenly, she dropped. She felt that she dropped. A sharp surge of pain went through her knees.

She blinked.

She was back at Eriol's mansion.

"Seen anything?" Eriol's voice floated into her mind.

She coughed, as if her throat's dry. Eriol handed her a bottle of water. She downed it in a second.

She spoke excitedly, "I think I did. I was- suspending in this weird space, silvery. Bright. Dark. I-"

Eriol smiled, "That's half-done. Now, take a break for the rest of the evening. You'd done enough. It'd took me 10 hours to get there, and you managed it in- 7 hours."

It was 5pm now, evening. By the way, they had not taken lunch yet. They had worked through the whole afternoon without taking a single break.

Sakura nodded, seemingly Sakura-like too. It was as if the old but more mature Sakura had came back, not that torn one. But no, she hadn't recovered fully yet.

She still had nightmares in the night.

--- --- ---

"Great job done, Sakura! You'd taken less than three days to fully grasp the skill of using your aura. Now, try to use your cards with your aura. That'll be the easiest part, to get your cards respond to you. However, let me warn you. It'll take a while to fully get the cards to work in sync with you." Eriol commended.

Sakura grinned broadly. Beads of sweat were clearly seen on her face, but not a sign of exhaustion. She felt pride.

The day after that day she went to the silvery dimension, she had worked to see her aura. Yes, see. If you did not know, aura actually existed as a being. The form it takes on depends on oneself. For Sakura, it took on a person. A person with long flowing silvery-black hair and shining, cheery emerald eyes. That person had a lavender string on is its little finger, which linked to god-knows where.

By the way, that string was the fate line. It was said that your soul mate's (fated one) aura form lies at the other end. When they reunite, both the aura and the people, they will become one whole, their aura will merge, and their heart will remain with each other and live happily ever after.

Anyway, for one whole day straight, Sakura was chatting with her aura. Yea, chatting non-stop. And finally, she managed to end the chat with her aura (and back into Eriol's mansion) without the slightest exhaust. And that was the scene just a few minutes ago.

She had beckon to her aura again afterwards, and surprisingly, it appeared just immediately as Sakura start to get her aura out. Her aura materialized in front of Eriol.

"But bear in mind not to get your aura materialized next time. It'll scare the living hell out of those wizards." Eriol stated as an after note.

**To Be Continued**

Author's Note: Finally it's out! Nice waiting? Well, hope it's worth the wait. So anyway, review! I would like to know that my readers had not given up on this story yet. Really- I'm really sorry (if you hadn't sensed the sincerity at the beginning) and most remorseful that I'd not the determination to continue it earlier.

So anyway, it's late. I'm glad. I'm going to sleep.

But before that, I'll respond to some of my reviews received.

To Eulene: Thanks for reviewing! Really appreciated it. Don't dislike Syaoran yet- oh wait, I meant don't even dislike this Syaoran here! He'll be appearing in the later chapters, although not playing a very prominent role here- but then again, perhaps his role would be important. Haizz, I'm most definitely contradicting myself.

To singergirl22: Again, please do not hate this Syaoran! And of course, he cannot die! His girlfriend cannot die also! They would appear in the later chapters. By the way, hope you'll be still reading it even if this would most probably turn out ExS.

To Tsuki no Tenshi: This takes place in no specific book. Well, it's basically a mix of the fourth and fifth book- no, it's another story itself but taking some major plot from book four and a character from book five. Yea, that's the answer I give you.

To Marie-Claire: Yea, I'm going to continue this! Look, an update! And yay! You'd reviewed my story! I feel really honored. So how was this chapter? Hope it's not too boring here. I know I'm a bit rushing here though, hehe- but nonetheless, I did my best. Please review this, thank you really much!

To Jus Sum1: This' gonna be EriolSakura. Yea, it's a bit weird since uhh, yea, half-father problem. Wait, isn't that gonna be incest? Oh my- but then again, I still don't get why Eriol would be considered Sakura's half father. I mean, he's the (half)reincarnation of Clow all right, but look, he's reincarnated already, and that could be considered a whole new life. Hmm, I'm blabbing nonsense again. So anyway, I do not relate Eriol, as Sakura's half-father.

So to the rest of the reviewers, thanks and don't feel angry that I did not respond. I just didn't have time, sorry. So anyway, please review this as well. I'll be glad if you did. Cya!


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